croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

, the term spooning has historically been used to refer to two ways of setting the ball into motion. The term is rarely used in the modern game and is not defined in the official laws.

Pushing

In one sense, it is simply pushing the ball with the

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

instead of tapping. It is recognized by making no noise. This was at one time considered an unfair but good technique, upon appeal the

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

must declare whether the ball was spooned or tapped."Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People" (1883)
p. 485
/ref> In modern Association Croquet, pushing the ball would generally constitute a fault under rule 28.a.4, which makes it a fault if the striker "moves the striker's ball other than by striking it with the mallet audibly and distinctly", or under rule 28.a.7.C, if "the mallet emainsin contact with the striker's ball for an observable period."The Laws of Association Croquet, 6th edition, amended 2008; http://www.croquet.org.uk/association/6th/index.html There are techniques that involve the pushing of a ball which are not considered "spooning". In a roll shot, the player's and the croqueted balls are driven together in a stroke which starts with a tap and then the mallet is immediately trailed right behind the balls. It is not considered spooning as long as one and only one distinct tap is heard. If the mallet leaves the ball after the tap and returns to the ball, it is considered spooning. In the modern laws this is usually referred to as a "double tap", and is a fault under rule 28.a.7. The "pass" stroke, which also drives two balls, is used to drive the striker's ball further than the croqueted one. It also involves the dwelling of the mallet on the tapped ball, with the same restrictions as for the roll shot. In 19th century spooning was considered a women's way of cheating in sports, frequently mentioned in sports magazines of the time. A notable case was an official accusation of the British Open champion

Lily Gower Lily Gower, birth name Lilias Mary Gower (5 October 1877 — 29 July 1959) was a Welsh croquet player, a four-time winner of the Women's Championship.gentlemen A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

, but pre-20th century ladies in

hoopskirt A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. It originated as a modest-sized mechanism for holding long skirts away from one's legs, to stay cooler in hot climat ...

s were at a disadvantage being unable to "spoon" in this way.Ray Broadus Browne, Lawrence A. Kreiser (2003) "The Civil War and Reconstruction",
p. 92
with citations from contemporary sources

References

{{reflist Croquet